The gift of nature

Hungarian photographer Csaba Daróczi has enjoyed great success in a number of high-profile photography competitions. Tracy Calder talks to him about fresh challenges, originality, and what constitutes a prize-winning picture

- Tracy Calder

In order to chat with Hungarian photographer Csaba Daróczi I had to wait for a starless sky. Daróczi has been observing a pine marten in the forest for some months now and he has a particular picture in mind. ‘I want an image of the pine marten under a starry sky, jumping,’ he smiles. Csaba isn’t afraid to put the hours in: he once spent two years trying to capture a picture of some deer on a hilltop with a full moon. ‘I got it in the end,’ he says, fist-pumping the air. It takes patience, persistence and fieldcraft to fully realise a picture you have in your mind’s eye, and thankfully Csaba has all three.

The power of observation 

We begin our conversation by discussing his early background in sports and geography – two subjects that Csaba studied at university. ‘We used to go on field exercises to the hills and coast, and this is when I started taking pictures,’ he recalls. At this point the images he made were mainly record shots, but they encouraged him to take a closer look at the world around him. ‘I’ve always been an observer,’ he explains. ‘I love watching animals and trying to work out why they behave in a certain way.’ Csaba treats every encounter as a puzzle. ‘As a photographer you must be a problem solver,’ he says.

Finding a mentor